


Once Upon An Unexpected Adventure

by Lost_Fanboy



Series: What If Dreams Become Reality? What If Reality Becomes A Dream? [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, M/M, Self-Insert, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2019-08-26 04:11:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16674265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lost_Fanboy/pseuds/Lost_Fanboy
Summary: Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there lived two friends. They weren't particularly special, at least not in their world. However little did they know all of that was about to change, forever.





	1. The Start of Something New

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is my first attempt at actually following canon as close a possible. I got bored in class one day and started writing this, i hope you find it as fun as i do.

It was about half two in the morning when they finished yet another episode of their favourite show; Once Upon A Time. Both Ryan and Lucy loved this show with a passion, it was one of the many reasons they were such good friends. They had met at college and since then had been almost inseparable, until they both moved to attend university’s in different countries. Lucy had come to stay at Ryan’s for the weekend as a sort of holiday, it was the first time they had seen each other since moving away just over a year ago. On this particular evening, or rather morning as it now was, the two were curled up in an armchair each, blankets scrunched up around their shoulders, binge watching the first season for probably the tenth time this year. While watching the screen they talked about the characters and shared theories they had about certain aspects, like they did every time they watched together. Tonight was a topic that was all too common for them; what would they do if they were in that universe? This came up often and provided some rather funny theories for them both. Usually the conversation would consist of fits of laughter as one of them suggested something outrages or blatantly hilarious, tonight was no exception.

"Oh come on Ry, even you have to admit it would be pretty freaking awesome to live in Storybrooke." Lucy was always so excited about the idea it never failed to make them both erupt into laughter. "Oh it certainly would. For the thirty seconds when something isn't trying to kill us. I doubt we would last a week there." Ryan replied, not sounding nearly as serious as he was actually being. "True, but it would be one hell of a week for both of us." She was always the more optimistic of the two but even Ryan couldn't disagree that it would indeed be one hell of a week. They continued watching the TV until another episode ended and Ryan suggested they actually get some kind of sleep. Lucy agreed and got up to move to the air bed that was on the floor in the centre of the room while Ryan switched the TV off and made his way to his bedroom down the hall. Just before he left the room Lucy started talking to him.

"You know, I wish it was all real, the fairy tales and the magic. Don't you?" "Yeah dude I do. It would be pretty cool." Ryan replied, leaning against the back of the sofa as they spoke. "Yeah it would. Night dude." Colin replied as he settled down into his sleeping bag. "Night." Ryan said as he flicked off the light and wandered down the short hallway to his own room. Climbing into bed and pulling the covers up tightly around his neck, he let thoughts of the fairy-tale universe fill his head and lull him into a deep sleep.

\---

Ryan’s dreams were filled with terror that night. It had started out lovely and peaceful, he was shirtless, walking along the side of a stream in a field of daisies that appeared to be never ending. The scars across his chest from the tell-tale surgery faded but still visible. The sun shone high against the pale blue sky, there wasn’t a cloud in sight. He walked along the stream for what seemed like hours, always smiling and occasionally looking up at the sun, it never moved. It all seemed like perfect bliss. This was a rather common re occurring dream for him to have, however that was about to change. An almighty crash of thunder pulled Ryan's attention away from the stream and up towards the sky which was suddenly filled with raging dark clouds. Another clap of thunder and streaks of lightning ripped through the air and sent panic through Ryan's bones. This wasn’t meant to happen, nothing bad has ever happened in this dream before, but sure enough this dream was turning into a nightmare and it was only getting worse. The darkest clouds started to swirl together on the horizon. They formed a tornado and started spinning towards where Ryan was stood, paralysed with fear. With every twist it gained speed and churned up the ground, causing dust and dirt to fly everywhere. Ryan wanted nothing more than to turn and run from the monstrous storm but something, some unseen force, held him in place. The tornado tore through the air, getting closer and closer until it was practically on top of him. It swallowed him up, lifting his skinny body of the ground entirely. He was trapped inside the tornado as it continued on its path of destruction. Ryan found it difficult to breathe as every inhalation caused dirt and dust to be drawn into his lungs. His sight had become hazy as the lack of oxygen started to affect him. Through the blizzard of dirt and debris he thought he saw someone, another person trapped inside the tornado with him, but his sight was failing rapidly as he was starved of air and everything suddenly went black.

\---

Ryan woke with a start, the fear from his dream jolting him awake. He was breathing hard and took several deep breaths to try and steady himself. Once he had calmed down enough to take in his surroundings he quickly realized that wherever he was it definitely wasn’t his bedroom. This caused a whole new wave of panic to hit him. He looked around frantically, trying to find anything that was an indication of where exactly he was and how the hell he got here. Currently he was sitting against a large tree that was covered in patches of wet moss. The damp began to seep through his joggers, causing his legs to shiver slightly. He jumped up from his spot at the base of the tree and frantically looked around, still unsure of his surroundings. A meter or so to the left of him was a stone well. It was relatively small and old, cracks ran along the stone bricks and the wood canopy to it was worn. Gingerly he walked over to the well, hoping it would provide some clue as to where he was. He hadn’t walked more than two steps when he saw a pair of legs poking out from behind the well, as if someone was laying just beyond it. Throwing caution aside he ran the rest of the short distance and around the side, dropping to his knees to examine the person. They were pressed against the stone of the well, facing away from him. He carefully put a hand on the strangers shoulder and pulled them away from the well slightly. When he could see their face he was shocked, and then worried. It was Lucy, dressed in her pyjamas like him, and passed out on the floor.

Ryan shook Lucy’s shoulder in an attempt to wake her. When that didn’t work he repeated it, this time a little harder while calling to her.

“Luce…Lucy come one wake up.”

“Huh, wha-Ryan what is it? What time is it?” Lucy replied, groggy from sleep and a little annoyed at being woken up in such manner.

“No idea, but we have a slightly bigger problem right now.”

“What do you mean?” She blinked a few times, forcing her eyes to focus before properly looking at Ryan. She looked up past his head to see tree leaves and sunlight. This was enough to startle her as she jolted upright and looked around frantically before turning back to face Ryan. “Where the hell are we? How did we even get here?”

“Two questions I have no answer to right now, but I'm sure we can find out.” Ryan helped her to her feet and then circled the well, inspecting it as if it had all the answers. Lucy however had other plans and began to wander off slightly into the forest, not knowing what direction she was actually walking in. She only made it a couple meters before Ryan called out to stop her.

“Hey! Don’t get wandering off, we don’t even know where we are yet. I don’t really fancy loosing you in this damn forest.”

“Right yeah we should probably stick together, sorry.” She apologized and started walking back towards the well when a sudden realization struck her.

“Ryan, I think I know this place.” She said as she scanned the area ahead, her eyes coming to rest on the well her friend was currently stood next to.

“What do you mean? Have you been here before?” He asked, confused but a little relieved too.

“No never, but I recognize it. You should too.”

“What on earth are you talking about, why should I recognize a place I’ve never been to before?” Ryan was even more confused now, he had no idea where they were or why she thought he should know.

“Because you have seen it before. So have I, many times. Look come over here and you’ll see what I mean.” She called, beckoning him over with a quick wave of her hand. Ryan walked up to her and she placed her hands on his shoulders, turning him to face the well.

“See what I mean?” She asked, keeping her hands on his shoulders.

“What am I supposed to be looking at Luce?”

“The well! We have both seen that well before, hundreds of times.” She pointed towards the little stone structure as she said this, hoping he would see what she was on about. The look on his face as the realization dawned meant that he did.

“No, it can’t be…” was all Ryan managed to say as he just stood there in pure shock and maybe a little bit of terror.

“Well it defiantly looks like it so unless we have been drugged and this is all some insanely weird acid trip I think it’s safe to say this is all real.” She said while trying to hold back a laugh at the expression Ryan was wearing.

“Ok OK, hold up a minuet. Assuming this is all real and everything, that makes this the well from Storybrooke, right?” Ryan looked up at her, indicating it was her turn to speak.

“Yeah it is.” She sated rather matter-of-fact like.

“Alright, so if this is Storybrooke then we what, teleport-ed into a fictional world?”

“When you put it that way it sounds kinda impossible.”

“And yet here we are.” Ryan finished and they both starred at the well for a little while. It felt like they stayed there for an eternity when it had only been a few minutes.

“Right well I guess we should try and find our way to town, if that even exists. Too bad they didn’t leave us a map, whoever they are.” Ryan began to walk away from the well and deeper into the trees.

“Do you have any idea where you are going?” Lucy called, following him anyway.

“Not a clue.” He called back, turning on his heel and flashing her a big grin. The worry in his voice was only out shone by the look of pure excitement in his eyes. Lucy chuckled as she followed her friend on their path. This was shaping up to be one hell of an adventure.


	2. A Long Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i finally started writing again! Sorry this chapter is very dialog heavy, and dialog has never been my strong suit. Still focusing on the OCs here since it is really their story afterall. This chapter was going to be longer but i lost motivation halfway thoriugh. Ill make it up in the next one.

Ryan never thought much about his future He didn’t like to dwell on things or get caught up on “what ifs”. After all it never really did him any good. As things went he much preferred to just “live in the moment” as some would say, to take things one step at a time and just see what happens. Of course as he got older short term plans had to be made, like when to do the laundry or booking dentist appointments, just simple mundane things that needed to be done but never long term plans. He was quite content with taking life as it came. If anyone was to observe him they’d say he was a bit of a dreamer really, never really making plans or even thinking about what the future might hold. Most people said that at 24 he should have some kind of plan or career goal, even a little one. But as it was he didn’t and nothing anyone could say would change that.

And so when he had mysteriously fallen through a portal into a world he believed to only be fiction along with his best mate, the only thing he could think of was ‘oh, this could be fun’.

 

\---

The sun shone high between the blanket of clouds and through the canopy of leaves as mid-day was fast approaching. The pair had been wandering through the woods for almost three hours searching for the way to town. With both of them dressed in only pyjama trousers and thin t shirts the cold damp atmosphere of their surroundings was quickly taking effect, they now held their arms close to their chests and shivered violently as they walked. Ryan was beginning to think there was no way out and that the woods went on forever. That was until he spotted what looked like a black railing fence in the distance, between the trees.

“Hey what’s that over there?” He called back as he pointed in the direction of the fence.

“Dunno, but it better be something good I’m freezing my arse off out here.” Lucy was thoroughly fed up with their little adventure now and wanted nothing more than a hot bath and a large mug of hot chocolate.

“So am I. We have to be close, the town will be around here somewhere.” He replied, looking back over his shoulder to his friend who was shivering profusely and as pale as the clouds above. It was very clear they both needed to find the town and soon otherwise they would both be at risk of hypothermia. Turning back he picked up the pace a bit, jogging the rest of the way to the rails. When they both reached them the two stopped and inspected the area beyond. There were a few trees dotted about and headstones scattered in-between. Apparently he realised this about half a second after Lucy did because her shocked voice pulled him from his thoughts.

“Bloody hell! This is a graveyard.”

“Really? I’d never have guessed.” Ryan rolled his eyes at his mate’s obvious statement.

“Oh shush you I’m cold and hungry leave me alone.” She stated, frowning and rubbing her hands over her arms to emphasise just how cold she was.

“Ok well if I remember correctly the cemetery is at the top if the town, so if we follow the fence round to the front gate we can then follow the road right into town.” Ryan started thinking out loud as he began to follow the fence.

“How far away is town now then?” Lucy asked, stepping in time with Ryan.

“I honestly don’t know, my poster didn’t exactly have google maps directions on it.” Ryan laughed a little. This whole situation was ridiculous. Here he was, wandering around in a foreign place with only the memory of a poster on his bedroom wall as a guide.  The whole thing was completely mad and if it wasn’t for the fact that Lucy was stood right beside him he would swear this was all just a dream, or a hallucination.

They continued to walk, keeping the cemetery bars on their right as they rounded the corner to the main road. It didn’t take long, only about 20 minutes. While they were both still freezing cold and extremely hungry the pair felt a lot better now that they had found a road, after all it had to lead somewhere that wasn’t the damned forest. Unfortunately though they still had quite a way to walk and the constant shivering that had set in about two hours ago caused them to slow their pace considerably. It took them a further hour to get to the town, mostly the journey progressed in silence with only Lucy complaining about being cold or hungry every now and then. When they started to see buildings the two almost jumped for joy, they probably would of if they weren’t so exhausted.

“Where do we go now? It’s not like we can catch an Uber home.”  Lucy asked as they wandered down a street neither knew the name of. She was right of course, it was becoming painfully clear that they were actually very lost, even if they knew where they were.

“Well I’m starving and freezing my bollocks off out here so how about Granny’s? If we keep going down this way I think the main street is on the right?” Ryan wrapped his arms tighter around his middle, hoping it would keep him warmer, of course it didn’t. After walking barefoot in their pyjamas for a little over four hours now they both felt the need for a sit down and some nice hot food. They passed a couple walking in the opposite direction as they got closer to the centre of town. The couple glanced at them both, confusion clear across their faces. It wasn’t unexpected, they were walking through town at roughly midday clad in nothing but their nightwear. Turning onto the main street revealed that there were more people around than they had expected. Several more people passed them, each throwing weird looks their way and some even mumbling confused comments to the other townspeople as they passed.

“We must look like a right pair dressed like this.” Lucy commented as she jogged lightly to catch up with her friend. He had been unconsciously speeding up as they got closer to the diner, eager to be in the warm and eating something.

  “No different than usual then.” He grinned at her as they both approached the diner, the large standing sign on the pavement indicating that they were in the right place.

Ryan began to walk up the three little steps that lead to the front door but he paused on the middle step, realising that his friend was still stood in the middle of the courtyard looking more than a little nervous.

“Hey dude, what’s wrong?” The concern in his voice was obvious. She had been complaining all day about being cold and hungry and that it was taking too long to get to the town they were now stood in.

“Huh, oh nothing. I-It’s just, this place is actually real!” At the last few words her face broke into a massive grin as she looked up at the building that stood before her. Ryan could only grin back at his friend in the same gleeful amusement.

“Yeah it is. Come on, I want some food.” Reaching back to grab Lucy’s hand he pulled her up the steps and grabbed the door handle. Throwing it open perhaps a little too forceful the pair were hit by a wave of warmth and the quiet chatter of the few occupants inside. Noticing the uncomfortable silence as several people stopped their conversations to stare at the rather loud new arrival. Even Ruby and Granny looked up from the counter and stared for a moment.

They both went a little red at the sudden attention drawn their way and quickly decided to sit in one of the booths towards the back. They sat across from each other and grabbed a menu that was sitting at one end of the table. Lucy was still nervously looking around at the other patrons, her eyes would occasionally go wide when she recognised someone, while Ryan was scanning the menu, not actually paying attention to anyone else in the diner.

“For someone who was complaining they were going to literally drop dead from hunger only half an hour ago you sure as hell don’t seem all that interested in food anymore” Ryan quipped, not lifting his eyes from the menu.

“Oh I’m still starving, just now I’m a little more worried about being able to actually pay for the food.”

“Oh.” Was all Ryan managed to say. He hadn’t thought of that until now.

“Yeah I mean it’s not like I carry change in my pyjamas and even if I did, we aren’t in England anymore. It’s a different currency over here.” Lucy continued, she was biting her lower lip in worry.

Before either of them could say anything else they both tensed, sitting straighter in their seats. There was a soft, warm tingling feeling on their legs. Ryan reached down to grab his thigh where the odd sensation was strongest. His hand slipped into his pocket and he pulled out what looked like a black leather wallet, not too different from the one he had back home. Frowning at the object now in his hands he flipped it open as Lucy reached into her own trouser pocket. Inside was several paper notes and two cards. The same was inside the little brown purse that Lucy produced from her own pocket. Ryan emptied the contents of his wallet onto the table top. He counted the notes first, it turned out there was $100 all in $10 notes, and then he picked up the two cards. One appeared to be a driving license, the other a debit card. He lifted the license and flipped it to show Lucy.

“So I guess whoever brought us here also set up a backstory for us?” Ryan questioned, frowning at the other as she also looked through her mysterious purse.

“It looks like it, but why?” Lucy asked, counting her own notes and realising she too had $100. “Bloody hell, I don’t think I’ve ever carried this much money before.”

Ryan was about to reply but then Ruby came over to the table, notepad in hand, ready to take their order.

“Hi you guys must be new here, what can I get ya?” She was cheerful as she spoke, smiling at the pair in a friendly yet professional way.

There was a moment of silence where neither one wanted to reply. Before it could get awkward Ryan spoke up.

“Uh yeah, yeah we just got here today actually, got a little lost on the way though.” Lucy smirked at the explanation he was giving, lost was probably the biggest understatement of the day.

“It’s rare we get any visitors here, where abouts are you two from.” Ruby asked, twirling the pen in her fingers lightly as she chatted.

“Oh uh England originally. We decided to road trip across America as a holiday.” Ryan panicked, hoping the lie would be believable. It must have been as ruby continued their chat without any weird looks.

“Wow you guys must be really lost then, this place isn’t exactly the ideal holiday destination.”

“I don’t know, I kind of like it here.” Lucy responded, apparently finally getting over the shock.

Ruby chuckled at this but just shook her head and repeated her earlier question.

“Whatever floats your boat I guess, so what can I get you guys?” Ruby repeated her earlier question, still twirling the pen as she smiled.

“Oh uh I’ll have a hot chocolate and the pie and chips please.” Ryan ordered his and then let Lucy order hers, she ended up getting the same thing. After a moments pause Ryan added to his order. “Um sorry can I get whipped cream and cinnamon on my hot chocolate please.”

“Yeah sure thing, I’ll bring it over for you guys.” She clicked her pen and placed it into the pocket of the little white apron she had tied around her waist and turned to dart back to the counter to give Granny the order and prepare the drinks.

“Really Rye? Cinnamon?” Lucy asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

“What? Might as well try it, see what all the fuss is about.” He stated, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table, leaning his head on his hands and momentarily closing his eyes.

“You know you could just make that at home right?” She laughed at his ridiculous answer.

“Yeah but that just wouldn’t have been the same”.

Several moments passed in content silence, both Ryan and Lucy were just taking in their surroundings and thinking back over the crazy morning they had had. Both were now incredibly happy to be somewhere warm and about to be eating hot food, although they were still in only their night clothes so that needed to be fixed sooner rather than later. Their food arrived and they ate in the same pleasant silence. Even if this was the craziest morning of his life Ryan was glad to have Lucy with him. No matter what happened in this world he knew he would be ok, that he would get through anything because he wasn’t alone. And maybe together they could figure out a way to get home, if that were ever something either of them wanted. Personally, Ryan thought, he did not want to leave, not yet anyway.


	3. Getting Settled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys just a quick note before you read, I pretty much only write this while I'm at work since its the only 'free time' i have at the moment. Also just as a warning I wrote the majority of this chapter when I was in a pretty bad place so some bits don't seem that nice (apologies to anyone who knows me IRL). I write fan fic to deal with my issues so I'm sorry but I will probably end up writing more depressing stuff in the future.

“Are you even listening to me?” The question brought him out of his thoughts.

“Sorry what?” Snapping back to look at his friend she was glaring at him from across the table, one eyebrow raised at his clear lack of attention. She chuckled to herself before continuing. “I asked what you wanted to do next. We should probably find some clothes and change if being the new guys in town wasn’t weird enough walking around in our pyjamas all day definitely is.”

Ryan had almost forgotten that they were still in their nightwear. It wasn’t so bad for him though, he was in a pair of plain black joggers and a thin white t-shirt. If it wasn’t for the fact he wasn’t wearing a jacket or that he was currently barefoot his appearance could be mistaken as a casual everyday outfit for some people. While for Lucy it was a little more difficult, her outfit wasn’t quite as subtle. She was dressed in a thin white vest top and Captain America print pyjama bottoms, which were probably the cause of most of the stares that had been directed at them since they had arrived in the quaint little town just over an hour ago.

“Fair point, new clothes are definitely needed but maybe we should find somewhere to stay first? I don’t know how long we are going to be here for.” It was true, Ryan had no idea how they got here or how long they would remain in this realm, a thought that terrified him more than he would ever like to admit although he wasn’t sure why.

Lucy’s eyes lit up upon hearing his words as a thought crossed her mind and her face broke into the biggest ear-to-ear grin he had ever seen on her.

“Ooh, we could stay at Grannies Inn. Imagine if we stayed here for a while! We could meet all the characters and watch the story actually happen and maybe be a part of the story. Oh my god, that would be so cool wouldn’t it!” She gushed, talking in such an excited manner that she barely took a breath between sentences.

“Whoa, dude slow down and breathe.” Ryan raised his arms off the table in a mock surrender type of pose, laughing at her over-excited expressions. After waiting a brief moment for her to take a deep breath to calm herself down before he continued. “For starters keep your voice down, we don’t need half the town thinking we are up to something.”

“Oh shit yeah, sorry dude.” Lucy scrunched up her face in a frown as she half whispered an apology to him.

“Also we can’t freak out at the characters. One, they aren’t just fictional characters anymore, are actually real people. Two I don’t think getting involved in the story is a good idea. God knows what some people would do if they found out their lives really where just fictional back home.”

Lucy seemed to pause at this and think for a moment like she was mulling over all the possible reactions everyone could have. Her frown deepened when a specifically disturbing thought crossed her mind. “Or if they found out we kinda knew their futures.”

Ryan also frowned at this, then his eyes went wide with the realisation of just what she had said and the implications that came with it. “Oh god, I never even thought of that. It’s definitely best we keep a low profile then, at least until we figure out a back story for ourselves.”

“Ooh yeah good idea, we will probably need that at some point if we are actually stuck here.” Now that she had calmed down and was over her initial outburst of excitement Lucy looked as if she was starting to formulate a plan. For what Ryan didn’t know and that worried him greatly. It wasn’t that he thought she would intentionally cause trouble, she wasn’t that kind of person. It was more like he knew neither of them was exactly the subtle type so whatever they planned would surely go wrong, and knowing their luck almost definitely blow up in the most spectacularly absurd way. Now that he was thinking about it they would need one hell of a cover story because lying, especially to a certain mayor, wasn’t exactly the wisest option in the world.

Speaking of the infamous mayor he wondered why they hadn’t seen her yet. By now word had to have gotten around about the arrival of two strangers but it had been hours and they hadn’t actually seen any of the ‘main characters’ at all. Ryan thought for sure Snow would have been in Granny’s at some point with baby Neal or Charming. Then again, he thought, maybe the story hadn’t gotten that far yet. Was Emma even in town yet? If she was then how far had the story got? And if she wasn’t what the hell was going on to keep the mayor away from the sudden arrival of strangers. There were so many things that weren’t making any sense right now. Ryan hoped the two of them could figure things out before anything more dramatic happened. Unfortunately, this town wasn’t exactly known for its peaceful endeavours.

“Ok so here’s the plan; we ask Granny for a room, maybe do a bit of snooping to see if Emma is here yet and then we can go explore the town properly. In normal clothes.” Ryan decided, thinking it was about time they tried to figure out what exactly was going on. They couldn’t go around asking about magic until they knew the curse was broken and they wouldn’t know if that had happened until they found Emma. It seemed like the only logical thing to do. Plus they knew all too well that people in this town liked to talk, especially about gossip like the sudden arrival of new people in their town.

Lucy agreed that it was indeed a good plan so they both headed to the counter to pay for their meals and ask about a room. They both handed a note each for the food, suddenly grateful that the money had been provided for them otherwise they would be in a very different situation, neither of them had ever ‘dined-and-dashed’ before and Ryan doubted they could pull it off without getting caught. Plus they were trying to keep a low profile, for now at least anyway.

Granny seemed surprised when they asked if there was any place to stay, although not nearly as much as the two thought she would be.

“You know you’re the second people who have asked for a room in the last week.” The old women said as the three of them walked through the hall at the back of the diner to where the reception of the inn was.

“Oh cool, Emma must be here already then!” Lucy said excitedly before she realised what she had done. Ryan glared at his friend before quickly turning to face the older woman with a smile that looked a little too forced plastered across his face. The woman frowned as she rounded the counter, eyeing them up suspiciously now.

“You know her?” It was a simple question yet Ryan couldn’t help but think there was more to it than that. Depending on how long she had been here, Emma might already have been thrown out of the inn and they really needed a room so he was careful how he answered.

“Yeah, we are kinda old friends from work.” He quickly lied, hoping it would sound convincing enough. When she didn’t look in the least bit convinced he continued, hoping that if he said enough it would actually be believable. “We were meant to be meeting up but we got a little lost so we are a bit late” He smiled all the while he spoke, attempting to sound as genuine as possible. It must have worked because the elder woman’s face softened as she spoke next.

“Well this town isn’t exactly easy to find, I’m surprised you made it at all.” She said as she opened a diary on the table.

“Yeah same here.” The sarcasm in his voice made Lucy snort as she tried to hold back a laugh.

“We have rooms available with a square view or a forest view, although the square view has an extra fee.”

“Oh, the forest view will be fine.” Ryan replied; one because he didn’t know how much money was on that card and he did actually prefer the forest to the town. Apparently, Lucy, however, was the opposite and asked for a room with a view of the square, which meant that they would end up on opposite sides of the building to each other. Not that that was an issue at all, the place wasn’t exactly big and really they didn’t need to be joined at the hip all the time. Still, Ryan did worry about his friend, after all this was storybrooke, trouble lurked around every corner and the story was apparently only just beginning.  

Once they had each paid for the rooms (they didn’t know how long they would be here for so they said a week and promised to let the elder woman know if they wanted to stay longer), Granny showed each of them to their rooms. It turned out they weren’t as far from each other as Ryan had thought. They ended up being opposite each other almost. It was ‘almost’ because Lucy’s room was across the hall and down one from his. The room directly opposite must have been occupied then otherwise it was a bit odd to set them up like this. He surmised that it must have been Emma’s room then, and them stating they knew her was probably what made the woman place them all so close together. Well keeping a low profile was getting harder and harder the longer they were here, although he had no intention of leaving just yet.

The room itself was very much how Ryan had expected it to be in that it was exactly as the show had depicted it, although why wouldn’t It be, everything else in this town had been exactly as it was shown so far, there was no reason for this to be any different. It was a medium sized room with a large dark wood framed bed against a wall, a matching wardrobe and dresser against the opposite wall next to a door that presumably lead to a little bathroom and a relatively large window opposite the main door. The walls were papered with cream and faded green floral pattern while the floor was bare dark wood boards with a large ivy green rug at the base of the bed. The whole place screamed aged and outdated but he didn’t mind too much as it was all part of this great adventure. As annoyed as he was this morning with everything Ryan was actually starting to enjoy being here. Sure nothing much had happened yet and there was still a ton of things that could go wrong, plus they had no idea why they were here, but for now, he decided that he was going to enjoy this adventure regardless.

There wasn’t really much to do since he didn’t have any bags to unpack so he decided to go check out Lucy’s room. As he suspected it was very much the same, however instead of the green floral wallpaper the room had a faded cream and lilac floral pattern on all four walls. The layout was pretty much the same as his, just flipped so that the bed was against the right-hand wall instead of the left like his. The two went over to the window and watched the people in the square below while they talked.

“Wow, you’ve got a nice view.” Ryan said as he pulled the net curtain aside to see better.

“Yeah, it’s pretty great. The room is a little too dated though for my liking. It’s kind of cute but also…not.” Lucy replied while she leaned against the window sill, looking over the room as she spoke.

“Hmm yeah, I get you. It gives this place its charm but it’s not my style.”

“Oh yeah Nah, same here. We should probably look for a little place of our own…I mean if we end up staying here that is.” Lucy added that last bit quickly when she saw Ryan’s eyebrows disappear into his hairline.

“So you want to stay here then?” It was more of a statement than a question but she answered anyway.

“Well yeah, I guess. I mean we are kinda stuck here right now and who knows how long for. It could be a few days or a few decades. Why, don’t you want to stay?”

Ryan turned away from the window and leaned his head back against the curtained glass. He shoved his hands into his jogger pockets and thought about what his friend had asked. It wasn’t that he hated it here and desperately wanted to go home. In actual fact Ryan didn’t really want to go home at all, it wasn’t as if he had grand plans he needed to get back to or even any family. Sure he had some close friends that he would probably miss and all but he didn’t feel like he had anything that really tied him to that place. Maybe starting a new wasn’t such a bad idea? But he didn’t want his opinion to influence hers. Although apparently, she didn’t want to leave this world either so perhaps voicing his true thought on the matter would be ok. After all, if neither of them wanted to leave there was no problem, right?

“Well no actually I do. I mean there isn’t much for me back home so like being stuck here wouldn’t be so bad.” He stared at the floor when he spoke, afraid that if he looked at her he would accidentally give away the truth about just how bad things had been back home for him.

“Yeah same to be honest.” She too looked as solemn as he did when thinking about life back home. She suddenly looked up at him, a wide grin spread across her face and all the excitement back in her voice. “A fresh start is exactly what we need!”

Ryan couldn’t help but laugh, she was always so optimistic with everything it was honestly incredible. Even though the tension in the room had evened out a bit he was still worried about his friend. She had family and, unlike him, a family that loved her and that she loved too.

“Wouldn’t you miss your family though? If you stayed here that is.”

“Oh yeah, of course, I would but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love it here. I might even find a new family while I'm here, who knows.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him when she said the last part. Ryan couldn’t help but chuckle at her antics. He, of course, knew exactly what she was implying and who with for they had spent many nights discussing this particular fantasy. Plus he would be lying If he said he hadn’t hoped for a similar outcome with a particular character. He had to momentarily stop and remind himself that they weren’t just characters anymore, these were actual people that they had a very real possibility of meeting. The thought of bumping into a certain woman sent chills down his spine causing him to shudder ever so slightly. Luckily Lucy didn’t seem to notice. They stood in comfortable silence for a moment, both thinking about their respective crushes. Could you really call it a crush? I suppose so, after all, they were lusting after the two people in question which is kinda the definition of a crush. After a short while, Lucy turned to her friend to begin a new conversation.

“So. Clothes. Are we gonna go shopping together in town? I don’t really fancy wandering around in my pyjamas all day though, to be honest. Everyone starring this morning was enough.” She wrinkled her nose up at the memory from earlier that day.

“Yeah, that’s fair enough dude. I can sort of get away with it, although as much as I like being barefoot, I don’t really appreciate it when I'm outside.” He grimaced while looking down at his toes and wiggled them slightly as if to emphasise his point.

“Hmm yeah, same. The stones kind of hurt.” Lucy slumped down onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.

“You know it would have been great if whoever brought us here gave us some decent clothes as well as the wallets. I mean don’t get me wrong money is great but I could really do with a pair of skinny jeans and boots right about now.”

“God same, I’d kill for a pair of skinny’s right now.” The pair chuckled, this whole situation was ridiculous and here they were complaining about not having skinny jeans. Their priorities really were a mess at the moment. Their laughter was cut short however by a soft thud from inside the wardrobe. It wasn’t a particularly loud sound, more like a bunch of towels had fallen off a shelf or something. Which was likely, Ryan thought as he pushed himself off the window sill. They were in a hotel and many places would keep spare towels and pillows in the wardrobes. Then again this was storybrooke, anything could be lurking in the shadows. It was this thought that made them both more than a little apprehensive. Ryan cautiously approached the wardrobe while Lucy sat on the bed, more curious than scared. As he reached for the small wooden knob he made a silent prayer to the gods that it was just towels and not some weird magical creature that wanted to eat them. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an over-reaction considering it was highly likely the ‘story’ hadn’t progressed past episode 5, let alone magic actually being a part of this land. Giving one last glance over at his friend Ryan yanked both doors open as quickly as possible. When nothing jumped out at him he was both relieved and a little disappointed. Not that he wanted his face clawed off by some evil creature but still, a little excitement would be nice.

The sight currently before him though wasn’t disappointing in the slightest. A smile spread across his face as he looked over every item in the small closet.

“Well, what is it?” Lucy’s voice broke his attention. Without looking away he replied to her.

“Why don’t you come and see for yourself.”

She rolled her eyes at the back of his head but did as suggested, after all, there clearly wasn’t any danger and she was more than a little curious at this point. What she saw when she got there though definitely wasn’t what she had expected.

“Is that…?”

“Yup.”

“Holy Shit.”

In front of them was a fully stocked wardrobe. There was a pile of jeans in various shades of blue and a few black, t-shirts and jumpers were lined up neatly on hangers and several pairs of boots were paired up at the bottom.

“These definitely weren’t here before, I checked. I- I don’t get it. What-how?” Lucy was so shocked she could barely form proper sentences. Instead, she just stared at all the clothes, running a hand across the hangers as if to prove to herself they really did exist and that she wasn’t going crazy.

“Well, I’d hate to point out the obvious but like, magic?” Ryan frowned at his own words like he himself wasn’t sure about the answer. Magic was, of course, the most likely explanation but magic hadn’t actually been brought to this land yet and even if it had, who cast the spell? It can’t be one of them, neither of them had magic, did they? It was crazy to think they could have magic right? They would surely know if they did. Then again, with everything that had happened recently, it would kinda make sense. No, no, no Ryan thought, shaking his head in an attempt to forcibly remove such thoughts from his mind. Once again it was Lucy’s voice that brought him back to the present.

“Huh?”

“I swear you never listen to anything I say.” She was glaring at him, pretending to be mad but the slight smile on her lips gave it away.

“Sorry dude was off in my own little world again.” He replied with a sheepish grin.

“Clearly. I said you should go check your own wardrobe and then we can go explore the town properly.” She was picking out a black and white stripy top and holding it up against a pair of navy blue jeans.

“Right, yeah I’ll go check now. Meet you outside in twenty minutes?”

“Sure thing.”

With that Ryan dashed out across the hall to his own room. Sure enough, when he opened the wardrobe doors he was met with neatly stacked piles of clothes. He rummaged through a pile of jeans, finding a pair of true black skinny ones and chucking them onto the bed. Next, he scanned the row of hangers that held various t-shirts, jumpers and button ups. He grabbed a dark ivy coloured button up shirt that had small black dots on it and a plain black knitted jumper from the rail. It wasn’t especially cold outside if you had proper clothes on that is, but it wasn’t exactly warm either so a jumper and a jacket would be needed. He quickly changed into the new clothes and placed his pyjamas under one of the pillows on the bed, to keep them warm for the night. Then he grabbed a pair of socks from the pile of all-black socks and underwear that was also in the bottom of the wardrobe before selecting the pair of black leather converse and slipping them on. He pushed the hangers containing the shirts and jumpers to the side and studied the few coats that were sitting at one end of the rail. There were a black ripped denim jacket, a black bomber jacket, a black leather ‘biker’ style jacket and a black wool pea coat. Basically, he liked black a lot, something whoever put these clothes here knew. He was grateful for it though, wearing colour wasn’t really his thing and when he did wear it usually it was only minimally.

He grabbed the pea coat and took a quick look in the mirror that was on the dresser before darting out the door to meet his friend. In his rush, he didn’t see someone else walking down the hall and practically ran into blonde curls.

“Hey!”

“Oh my god I’m so sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going I’m sorry.” His words tumbled out of his mouth before he realised who it was he had just run into.

“It’s ok just watch out next time. I didn’t know anyone else was staying here.” The blonde frowned at him as she spoke. Ryan was temporarily frozen when he looked up at her. It was Emma. Emma-bloody-Swan was stood right in front of him. ‘Well, of course, she is you idiot, who else would it be.’ He mentally scolded himself.

“Uh yeah, I got here earlier today with my friend. She’s staying just down the hall.” He nodded towards the room that Lucy occupied.

“Oh cool. What brings you guys to this place then?” The question made him panic inside. If he lied there was a good chance she would know, it was her superpower after all. Then again, he could hardly tell her the truth. This may be Emma but it was season one Emma, before the curse broke, before magic arrived, before she even believed. His only option was to lie, he just hoped it would be convincing enough.

“Uh, we’re on a kind of spontaneous road trip. Yeah. Got a little lost though and wound up here. Luce wanted to stay a while, she thinks this place is sweet. I kinda miss the city’s though.”

“City’s?” The blondes frown deepened, clearly, she wasn’t convinced by what he had said so far.

“Yeah, we are road-tripping a load of major cities in America to celebrate graduating university.” He smiled through the whole thing, hoping it would lend a bit more credibility to his story. It seemed to work as the blonde began to chuckle before she spoke again.

“Wow, you guys must have gotten real lost then to end up over here.”

Ryan laughed with her, mostly out of pure relief than anything else. “Ha yeah, last time I let her drive I think.” Just as he finished the brunette in question emerged from the door a short way down the hall. “Oh speak of the devil and she will appear.” The two were still laughing as Lucy approached them.

“What’s so funny?” She asked before she froze on the spot, realising who else was stood in the hall. Ryan pulled a face at her as if to say ‘don’t just stand there’ which caused her to stutter out an introduction of sorts.

“H-hi I’m Lucy, who are you?” She was smiling ear to ear and clearly trying her best not to hyperventilate. Now it was Ryan’s turn to roll his eyes, she couldn’t be more obvious even if she tried. Emma simply smiled at her.

“I’m Emma, nice to meet you. And I don’t think I actually got your name.”

“Oh yeah sorry, my names Ryan. It’s nice to meet you.” He smiled up at the blonde woman and ran a hand through the back of his hair to hide the slight tremor he had. This whole conversation was making him nervous. What is she didn’t believe them, what if they said something they shouldn’t, like anything about the future at all. God that wouldn’t end well at all he thought as he continued to smile, clearly lost in thought once again.

“Anyway, we should get going, I want to explore this place a bit before we have to, uh, leave.” Lucy said the last bit to Ryan which, luckily, was enough to snap him back to reality. Emma smiled and bid them both farewell before disappearing down the hall and through the door to her own room at the inn. Once she was sure the door was closed and Emma wouldn’t hear Lucy turned to her friend and slapped him across the arm.

“Ow! The hell was that for?”

“That was Emma Swan! The Emma Swan! Oh my god, do you think we played it cool? Like do you think she suspects us or anything?” The excitement was practically radiating off of her and she had the biggest grin spread across her face.

“Suspects? What, you mean of us falling through a magic portal to a supposedly fictional universe and knowing several details about her past and future life? Nah I don’t think she suspects at all.” While he was just being sarcastic the underlying tone of worry in his voice was unmistakable. There was, of course, no way Emma could know any of that stuff but that doesn’t mean that she wouldn’t get suspicious and think they were up to something. Then again, he hoped she would be too busy with the whole fighting over Henry with Regina thing to pay that much attention to them. The thought of the former evil queen made shivers run up his spine. Unlike Emma, the mayor would scrutinise their every move when she found out about their arrival. Lucy didn’t seem impressed by his response and just rolled her eyes before grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the stairs.

“Your such a drama queen sometimes, come on!”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this was only a short chapter, i plan on writing longer ones when i get time between classes. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave kudos if you like it.


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